


i need your love

by jengao



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Cheating, M/M, inspired by dnyl, markhyuck implied, mentioned nohyuck and nahyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 05:11:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19166488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jengao/pseuds/jengao
Summary: jeno's still hung up over his ex-boyfriend and jaemin over an unrequited love





	i need your love

the rules were clear. dont talk about love.

jeno reminded jaemin when he called jeno out of class. jeno reminded jaemin when the younger boy grabbed his hand, lacing his fingers through jeno's. jeno reminded him when jaemin pushed him into a bathroom stall and locked the door behind him.

jeno didn't remember to remind him when jaemin kissed him.

and every time afterwards jaemin assured him: its not love and they're just friends. friends kiss.

but for jeno, it hurt. he liked kissing jaemin. and he was starting to like jaemin too. maybe because jaemin gave him all his attention, maybe because jaemin was a good fucking kisser. or maybe because every time he kissed jaemin he'd remember donghyuck. how it felt to kiss him and be kissed by him and how much it hurt to not be to kiss him anymore.

why? because donghyuck had gone ahead made out with mark lee, an upperclassmen, multiple times. the first time jeno had caught them it was a frat party. he came back with drinks for him and his boyfriend when he suddenly spotted donghyuck shoved up against the wall by another boy. jeno froze, unable to tear his eyes away from donghyuck's withering figure trapped under mark's body. the way donghyuck broke away from the kiss to bang his head against the wall as mark's hands wandered down his body, all seared into jeno's memory.

he apologized and swore he was just drunk and begged jeno to take him back. and jeno did. but it happened again. and again. and again.

"jeno.... i told you i was just drunk! why are you acting like a child....sulking over a fucking kiss..."

donghyuck was good at that... sweet talking and guilting jeno every time he slipped up. and jeno didn't know any better; he was in love.

jeno felt his heart break for good when he came back to his dorm one day after a long day of classes and work, only to find donghyuck not waiting for him on his bed but.... donghyuck getting fucked by mark lee.

jeno didn't even need to open his door; donghyuck was always loud and shameless. he never cared who heard him, and jeno guessed he didn't care if he got caught cheating either.

it had been half a year already but jeno had loved donghyuck. like _loved_ loved. it was hard to get over someone like that. so when he joined that stupid dnyl club, the last thing he hoped for catching feelings for someone new.

but he couldn't push jaemin away or turn down his flirtatious advances. a part of him deep down didn't want to.

so every time jaemin grabbed jeno, pulling him onto his lap at some dorm party, jeno let him.

"jaemin, you're breaking the rule.. again."

"don't tell you haven't been waiting to kiss me all night loser."

"... maybe so."

jeno loved the way jaemin tasted. maybe he liked him too.

jaemin had joined the club for his own reasons but jeno never pried. all he knew was that jaemin had a crush on someone but he didn't know who or what became of it. jaemin never really talked about, much rather content with making out with jeno instead.

but when jaemin stumbled into jeno's dorm drunk one night, crying and alcohol spilled over his clothes, jeno learned the source of jaemin's heartbreak.

donghyuck. a case of severely unrequited love.

jaemin cried into jeno's chest, detailing what had just took place. he ran into donghyuck, who was heavily intoxicated, at a party. and jeno's ex boyfriend had tried making a move on poor jaemin. the same jaemin had spent all of high school head over heels in love with lee donghyuck. but when he saw jeno and donghyuck arrive to prom together, he felt his heart break. and he resented jeno.

donghyuck wasn't jaemin's friend; hell he probably didn't even know jaemin existed. but that had never stopped jaemin's feelings for the boy.

so when jaemin found jeno at that first dnyl meeting, he was shocked. even more so when he found out that donghyuck had cheated on jeno. but because of all this, jaemin never brought up donghyuck. he didn't want to hurt jeno, for some odd reason.

but as he got to know jeno, jaemin's feelings of resentment towards the older boy blossomed into something else entirely. little by little, jaemin started to forget his old crush, all his attention on jeno now.

but getting cornered by donghyuck like that.... jaemin felt all the painful memories from senior year rush back. and in the moment all he could think was: jeno.

"why didn't you kiss him?"

"...that's your ex boyfriend."

"who cheated on me, so i don't care if you kiss him, jaemin."

"i care, jeno."

"and why the fuck would you care, we're just friends-"

"that's why!! jeno, you're so oblivious sometimes."

jaemin was still crying as he climbed off jeno's lap, moving to grab tissues off his desk.

"jeno i like YOU."

jaemin hated how even after finding out how donghyuck had cheated on jeno, his feelings for the boy didn't weaken completely.

he still felt his heart rush at times when he thought of donghyuck. of course, he wanted to kiss him. had this all happened six months ago, jaemin would have kissed the living daylights out of him. but something had changed in those last six months, and when jaemin pushed donghyuck off him, rushing out the door and into the empty hallway, he realized what it was. he had a crush on jeno. a real one.

it wasn't like one of those silly flings jaemin had forced himself into over years to move on from donghyuck. jaemin had a crush on lee jeno, the way he had had a crush on lee donghyuck all those years. this might be it: jaemin would finally be able to escape from under donghyuck's shadow.

jeno wasn't surprised by the sudden confession. rather, he found himself scared.

"jaemin, the rules said no dating eacho-"

"why are you always so hung up on the rules for?"

jaemin found himself growing furious, hurling painful words in jeno's direction. the lingering alcohol in his system was getting the best of him.

"you look at me, hold me, and kiss me like im the only boy in the world, and when i say i like you, you fucking reject me?"

jeno tried to calm his friend down but that seemed to only infuriate jaemin more.

"friend? is that all i'm ever going to be? i guess it's better than my luck with donghyuck, who was too busy cheating on you to notice me."

jaemin ran out of jeno's dorm before he could start sobbing again. but he also ran out before he could see the way jeno crumbled into a heap on his bed, crying sobs shaking his whole body as he buried his head into his pillow.

it was a few weeks before jeno and jaemin even saw each other. neither of them had reached out to the other. jeno out of fear and jaemin out of shame. he only realized just what he had said the next morning. but when jeno didn't text him good morning like he usually would, jaemin assumed whatever they had was over.

jaemin cried himself to sleep for a week, just like he had when he was 17. again, jaemin found himself a victim of vicious unrequited love, it seemed. was this his fate, for eternity?

if only he knew how jeno felt too. jeno kicked himself for days over what he had said to jaemin. he figured jaemin hated him and thought he had led him on this whole time. but it wasn't true. jeno liked jaemin, but he was too scared to admit it. he was too scared of getting hurt again. he knew jaemin was sweet but then again, donghyuck had been too.

it was ironic how, of all places, jeno and jaemin ran into each other again in the very bathroom where jaemin often had dragged jeno to during his classes.

jaemin was the first to speak, an apology incoherently tumbling over his lips. jeno pulled him into his arms, holding him tightly and shutting him up. they stood like that a few moments, silence washing over them as they took in the feeling of each other's skin and presence.

again, jaemin was the one to break the silence. he fought back tears as he attempted to apologize again, freezing as he noticed jeno's wet cheeks.

"jaemin, i'm sorry too."

jaemin had poured his heart to jeno and offered it to him on a silver platter and what had jeno done? let it fall and clatter as it hit the ground, shattering into a million pieces.

jeno ran his fingers through jaemin's hair, trying to his best to calm him down. 

"it was wrong of me not to take your feelings into consideration.. i just..."

jeno,  in the moment, had been so shocked learning about jaemin's crush on donghyuck. how one boy had ruined both their lives. but as jaemin clung to jeno, the older boy was determined to never let donghyuck hurt them again. 

he didn't want it to remain broken. jeno knew all too well what heartbreak feels like, and he didn't want to be just another boy in jaemin's painful memories.

communication is the key to avoiding misunderstandings, and both jeno and jaemin were determined to make things work.

when jaemin asked jeno to be his boyfriend a few days later, jeno didn't bring up the rule again.

"of course."

"yeah?" there was a mischievous glint to jaemin's voice with a twinkling look of hope in his eyes.

"yeah." jeno pressed his lips into a tight smile, trying to stifle a laugh at the sight of jaemin who was leaning forward, eyes closed and lips pucked out for a kiss. when jeno still hadn't kissed him back, jaemin cracked one eye open, confused. his heart started beating a little too fast though, jeno's wide, perfect grin only inches from his face. jaemin shut his eyes again, his cheeks burning red. jeno pressed a kiss to his lips, jaemin slowly relaxing and regaining his composure in jeno's arms.

a few months ago if you asked him, jeno would have said that he didn't believe in love. that he didn't need love.

but truthfully, looking at jaemin as he interlocked their fingers while buried under blankets in his bed, jeno couldn't say he believed that anymore.

"jaemin?"

"hm?"

"promise to never leave me?"

"of course baby... but why all of a sudden..." worry filled jaemin's voice.

"because..... i need your love."

he could finally think of donghyuck and say _no, i dont need your love_ because he'd had enough.

**Author's Note:**

> i got suspended so i can be found on my main @jenolace from now on


End file.
